Is there any reason whatsoever...

There doesn't have to be some complex reason, it could just be that simple.

 

We're still in the hunt. Can't take a chance on giving up a 4th for him.

 

Carnell Lake, Keith Butler and Mike Tomlin are a lot smarter than me, but they look pretty freaking dumb week in and week out when they continue to let Blake get beaten like a drum when there seems to be another decent option to at least try out.

 

That's what I'm saying, maybe there's not.

 

If Boykin is not a viable option at this point, Tomlin and Colbert should be held accountable by Art Rooney III for trading a valuable draft pick for a worthless player.

 

In a Nutshell:
--Boykin looks good in practice to the former players and media that are sitting in watching.
--Labriola mentioned they fear playing Boykin because he falls and trips up a lot for no reason.
--They don't like Boykin on the outside, but they do like Blake there.
--From that reasoning Boykin is in direct competition with William Gay in the slot.
--I suspect they like Gay's tackling better that Boykin.

 

At least Lance Moore was a free agent and the Steelers didn't have to give up a draft pick for him.

 

Aren't the first and second points contradictory?

 

Sometimes players don't fit your scheme.
Sometimes players are bad locker room guys.
Sometimes players have a bad season.

Who knows though. I just can't believe with the pedigree of our coaches that they are just being loyal or stubborn and keeping a lesser player on the field.

 

Sure they are, but first "THEY" is the media, the other "THEY" is the coaching staff. I'm also not sure where they saw him falling and tripping... possibly in preseason, but not in practice.

 

I can't believe with the pedigree of our coaches that they didn't properly vet a player they are trading for before they make the decision to give up a draft pick for said player.

 

If we can just keep Boykin out for a couple more games then we won't have to give up a 4th round pick. The way i figure we still have 9 games left and we can't chance giving up that 4th rd pick over a 5th.

 

Just curious, when they did see him tripping and falling was Tomlin around?

 

With Blake, I think they like his hard hitting and his ability to make the big play, that they look past some of the bad stuff we get from him, like average cover skills, and not always wrapping up. Lebeau always favored the CB's who were better tacklers than cover guys, it might still be the case with Butler.

It is very possible Boykin has better coverage skills, but is bad at everything else... making Blake the lesser of two evils.

 

Then he should be playing for this reason alone. We need CBs who can cover a receiver. Boykin can cover receivers quite well. I saw him do it in Philly and I've seen him do it in limited opportunities in Pittsburgh.

 

That's the problem with the thinking here. You see what he does on the field on game day!

At what point do you sit back and say "Maybe we're evaluating this thing wrong and we need to give him a shot?"

It's painfully obvious that the only thing he can give you now is an occasional big hit! He literally cannot tackle right now! This defense needs tackling! Whether Boykin is not as good a tackler as Blake when fully healthy is a moot point right now.

Blake cannot tackle "right now, on game day"!

I'll take a guy that might fall down in practice because he's trying too hard to count steps and make sure he's doing what the defense requires him to instead of playing. Instead of a guy that's practicing well and not tackling on the field!

 

Seems like Boykin had the same problem last year in Philly?
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/Brandon-Boykin-Not-starting-getting-real-old.html

 

That's the rub right there. Don't go get him if you're not going to use him. Cockrell was in for quite a few snaps, though his tackling was suspect as well.

 

Sounds like he's a slot corner and we don't need one of those right now.

 

Our outside linebackers did not do anything either...

 

A real head scratcher here, It is time to try somebody new. I
am not sure of why it hasn't happened before now. There will
be cleaning of the house in the secondary this off season, a lot
of junk needs to be purged. Tackling is atrocius.

 

I'd like to see Boykin start - nothing on Blake, I just want to see these threads resolved one way or the other!

 

I corrected your statement above. Cleaning house is not an MO of this staff. The secondary has been this way since 2003 at least.

 

Really? So you are willing to give up a shot of getting into the playoffs just for a 1 round difference....so if we miss out by 1 game it would of been a risk worth taking? Look I guess none of us really know the answer to why Boykin doesn't at least get a shot but it's hard to imagine he could be any worse. Also lost in his atrocious cover skills is his tackling has been getting worse every week and he's good for at least 2 or 3 special teams penalties a game.
I don't know who is responsible for the absurd cushions we are seeing but I do know this team isn't going anywhere with the way we are playing pass defense.